


Do not be afraid - noli timere

by Wongywoo



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 22:45:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6132755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wongywoo/pseuds/Wongywoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captured leaving the battle of black water, Sandor is sentenced to death, due to die in the morning, but not before Sansa can say goodbye.....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do not be afraid - noli timere

Disclaimer: characters belong to George RR Martin

They caught him, after the battle of black water. The hound, the deserter, the traitor, the coward. Joffrey had sentenced him to death by hanging, then decapitation. Joffrey had declared he wanted the hounds head by the other traitor- Eddard Stark.  
Sansa nearly collapsed when she heard. But she held it together, but not before Tyrion saw her look of guilt.  
As she approached her chambers, Tyrion collared her.  
"Lady Sansa"  
Sansa looked him in the eye "lord Tyrion"  
"On the night of blackwater battle, Sandor Clegane was seen leaving your chambers" he said it like a fact.  
He saw her face of horror.  
It was amazing how far money got you in this life, he thought. The maids were more than happy to sell you out for a few pieces of silver.  
"He wanted me to leave with him" she said sadly, she couldn't bear to hold eye contact "but I refused, had he just left, rather than coming back for me, he'd be safe from here"  
Tyrion chuckled to himself at her naïvety. No man could get far from the king with gold on his head, surrounded by the piss poor.  
"Had you gone with him, you'd be in a cell adjacent to him, awaiting the same punishment, I Can assure you" he tried to reassure her.  
"Yes, my lord"  
The knowledge didn't make her feel any better, part of her would rather know her fate and face it, rather than suffer his constant humiliations and beatings.  
Tyrion was aware of the times Sandor had looked out for Sansa and saved her from the mob and Joffrey's cruelty. He suspected, she thought of them as a friend, a knight, in some twisted sense.  
"If you would like to see him again, meet me here for 9, cover your hair"  
Sansa nodded "thank you" she said desperately. 

A man of his word, Tyrion accompanied by Vary's took her through a secret passage to Sandor's cell.  
"You have 30 minutes, lady Sansa" said Vary's "Tyrion will come for you, use your time wisely"  
With the last words, they left her.  
Sansa was used to seeing the hound, tall, fierce and scary. The man that sat before her, was broken.  
He looked up at her and snorted "A sorry sight heh?"  
It was clear his leg was broken, he'd put up a fight when they captured him, 10 men it took. Sansa could see the pain wore on his face, the dirt and hair, wet with sweat, stuck to his face.  
"What do you want, little bird? Why did you risk coming here?"  
"I just came to say goodbye" she gulped, stifling the cry, desperate to break through "You have always looked out for me, I want to help you"  
"Help me!!... Hahaha" he chuckled "I'm fucked" he said bluntly " you thought you could help me, what break me out of here? , carry me to safety?" He snorted  
Sansa sat beside him. Sandor watched as she brushed the hair from his face and tucked it behind his ears.  
She ripped a strip of cloth from her dress, dipped it into his bowl of water and began to clean his face.  
Although he'd deny it, it was comforting to him. He could never remember being cared for by a woman.  
"I wish I could save you from your fate"  
"Aye little bird, but fairy tales are children's stories "  
She wiped the last mud mark from his face and looked at him.  
"Thank you" he said gently.  
He looked deeply into her eyes, he wanted them to be the last thing in his mind, when he died. He wanted to remember her beauty, her warmth, but most of all, her kindness.  
As she broke eye contact, she spotted words across his wrist. She'd never spotted it before, his wrists we're usually covered by armour.  
"Noli timere" it read  
Sandor saw her admiring it "do not be afraid"  
Sansa looked up at him.  
"That's what it means" he said "the code of a good fighter"  
Sansa heard the tunnel crate being opened. It was her time to leave. But before she went, she looked into his eyes.  
"I'm sorry" she leant forward and kissed his unsuspecting lips. He automatically placed his hands, either side of her head and deepened the kiss. He would remember this moment.  
As they parted, he watched as she left and he felt the pain return. He could have cried in that moment, but he refused to, he was a warrior and he'd die one. Noli timere. 

The morning seemed to flash in a blur. He remembered them coming for him. They made him walk, the agony was all he could focus on. He hobbled up the steps and came face to face with the rope. He spotted Sansa, sat beside Joffrey. She looked drawn out, he didn't want to see her like this. He lost himself in the moment she kissed him. The way she tended to him.  
Sandor felt the rope tighten around his neck.  
"Any last words dog?" Joffrey's droning voice bellowed  
"Fuck the city, fuck the king" he said sternly  
He looked to Sansa and mouthed "do not be afraid"  
He felt the sudden drop, the unbearable tightness around his neck, despite every fibre of his being, screaming to fight, he didn't. He focused on Sansa, the feel of her lips, his last memory. 

Sansa couldn't watch as he died. Joffrey ordered her to watch, as a warning for traitors. But she refused to open her eyes as they removed his head. He was free now, it didn't matter what they did to his body. His words rang through her brain, her constant companion. She wrote the words on her skin: noli timere. His memory, gave her courage and that courage would see her through the wars to come.


End file.
